Mediator of Hyljehal
Overview
The Mediator of Hyljehal is an Imperial title awarded to a Wintermark citizen. The Mediator has custody of Hyljehal, a floating wooden hall moored in the Rikkivesi, constructed by the Imperial Senate in response to a proposal by the mysterious hylje seal-people.
Responsibilities
The Mediator is responsible for maintaining good relations between Wintermark and the hylje, as well as for protecting Hyljehal itself. Should any decisions need to be made about Hyljehal, the Mediator would be expected to make them. While there is no direct mechanism provided for speaking with the hylje, and the Mediator is not an ambassador as such, it is likely that any hylje wishing to speak to the people of Wintermark will look to the Mediator for guidance.
Powers
Mana from the Lakes
| Mana Crystals | |
| 9 Crowns | 10 mana crystals |
| 21 Crowns | 20 mana crystals |
| 42 Crowns | 30 mana crystals |
As well as a place of mediation, Hyljehal is a ministry. The Mediator can purchase quantities of crystal mana from the hylje at a set price. The Mediator makes their decision how much money to spend during downtime from their character page. Money is removed from, and resources are placed into, the character's inventory when the downtime is processed.
Emissary to the Hylje
Following the rescue of Koskinen in Summer 384YE, the hylje have realised they cannot live apart from the people of Sermersuaq. As such, they have provided the Mediator with an address where they may send a Call Winged Messenger should they have matters to discuss with the sealfolk. They are clear that they are unlikely to be interested in making regular trips to Anvil - it is a very long way and there is little there they are interested in - so any request for them to do so is likely to be denied. The ability to send a winged messenger is intended for the mediator to raise matters of mutual interest, request assistance, or let the hylje know things happening in the wider world that might effect them. At this time, the hylje are not especially interested in hearing from anyone else.
Appointment
The Mediator of Hyljehal is appointed during the Summer Solstice each year by unanimous decision of the senators of Wintermark. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached, the title may be appointed by the Imperial Senate instead.
The title can be held by a citizen of Wintermark. They can be revoked by the General Assembly, the Wintermark National Assembly, and by the Assembly of the Nine.
The hylje insist that the mediator must be Suaq. The civil service advise that as a Wintermark national position, only a Wintermark citizen can hold the title, but that no constitutional method exists to restrict the title so that only the Suaq may stand. The Senate motion further supported the desire of the hylje by determining that the title would "be appointed by Wintermark Senators with consideration that the Hylje ask for a Suaq Mediator in good standing."
| Summit | Elected |
|---|---|
| Summer Solstice 386YE | Raal Dunn |
| Summer Solstice 385YE | Raal Dunn |
| Summer Solstice 384YE | Raal Dunn |
| Winter Solstice 383YE | Raal Dunn |
| Summer Solstice 383YE | Alfa Dunning |
Recent Elections
This title is currently held by Raal Dunn; it will be reelected at Summer Solstice 387YE. The table to the right shows the citizens who have been elected to hold this title in the years since Empress Britta died.
Hyljehal
After the invasion of Sermersuaq by the Jotun in 382YE, hylje were encountered in greater numbers on the banks of the Rikkivesi in Kallavesa, and along the shores of the northern lakes of Bruckland in Hahnmark, than ever before. The seal-shifters have no love for the Jotun and many retreated in the face of their advance. The hylje are not a warlike people - recent misunderstandings between them and the Suaq aside- and they had no interest in open battle with the Jotun. Regardless, they were keen to see the Mark victorious and the orcs driven back, and while they would not fight, they were prepared to support their cousins in other ways - especially when they learned that the Empire had recognised them as a people in their own right (this apparently being their interpretation of the clause in the Liberty Pact that defines the nature of a person). They were in no doubt that it was the folk of Wintermark they had to thank for this odd honour.
As a consequence, some of the hylje approached their Winterfolk cousins about building a hall so that they could more easily come together - but built on a platform of wood so that it will float rather than being build on the shores of the lake. The hylje planned to moor the structure on the banks of the Rikkivesi, providing a meeting ground between the Suaq and the hylje as well as the other people of the Mark, allowing them to trade.
The hall is an impressive feat of engineering; a great raft with each wooden log marked with the runes Pallas and Verys to help it stay together and support the weight of the hall itself. Atop the raft is built a long hall, carved and decorated with motifs of water and fish. Two great birds are carved over the doors that stand at either end - a hawk and a heron - symbolising Loyalty and Pride.
The hylje who visit the hall bring fish, as well as crabs and eels taken from the lake's bed, looking to trade them for iron knives and similar tools that are in short supply among their people. Often they find mana crystals, formed amid the mud and plants in the deepest parts of the lake. They have more than enough mana for their own use but are happy to sell the surplus to the mediator for a fair price - for goods and occasionally money.
Some of the hylje who visit the Hyljehal were helped priests of the Pride assembly learn more about the spiritual beliefs of their people, leading in part to the creation of the document published as Among the hylje.
The Title in Play
The role does not provide additional information about events in the Empire, nor allow the player holding it to request special reports or downtime actions. These details are assumed to be below the abstraction layer. The title holder is encouraged to create their own stories about their activities within reasonable limits and to get involved in events appropriate to their title during the game, but they do not have any powers beyond those explicitly listed in the section on powers.
These details exist partly to provide context and character to the role - and partly to allow our writers to use the title as a plot hook. Plot that involves the position will be rare - but all the campaign positions in Empire have these details to create the potential for it to happen.